Felecia Hatcher on How Diversity Impacts the Bottom Line – Interview

March 20, 2017

7:45 pm

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In a research study by McKinsey and Company, companies that have an ethnically diverse work culture are “35 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians.”

While there are hundreds of programs designed to help minorities get established in burgeoning fields, many companies still fail to deliver a diverse workforce. Fortunately, Felecia Hatcher, founder of Code Fever and Black Tech Week, is committed to fueling this needed change.

Hatcher is on a mission to rid our communities of innovation deserts by working with community leaders and government officials to create inclusive and diverse startup ecosystems through her work with Code Fever, an initiative connecting minority led startup founders to the resources they need to succeed. They provide everything from capital and training to accelerator programs and showcase opportunities, like Black Tech Week. And that, says Hatcher, is more rewarding than anything.

“What’s liberating for me is when we’re working with young people and adults, and we see it click for them,” said Hatcher in an interview with Tech.Co. “When they realize that they can be problem solvers, use their hands, put things together, and have an impact in the world through technology, it’s extremely liberating for me because it’s liberating for the population that we serve.”

Tech.Co’s own Tishin Donkersley caught up with Felecia at SXSW to talk with her about how diversity impacts the bottom line, founding Black Tech Week and learning to code.

Austin has a city motto of “Keep Austin Weird.” In that spirit, we asked Felecia about how she keeps it weird and authentic and in doing so stays true to herself.

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Conor is a writer, comedian and world-renowned sweetheart. As the Assistant Editor and Writer at Tech.Co, he’s written about everything from Kickstarter campaigns and budding startups to tech titans and innovative technologies. His background in stand-up comedy made him the perfect person to host Startup Night at SXSW and the Timmy Awards for Tech in Motion. In his spare time, he thinks about how to properly pronounce the word "colloquially."
Conor is the Assistant Editor and Writer at Tech.Co. You can email him at conor@tech.co.